As you may be aware the Commonwealth of Kentucky requires all motorists to carry liability coverage in the amounts of 25/50/10. These numbers stand for $25,000 total for bodily injury per person, $50,000 total for bodily injury coverage per accident and $10,000 total for property damage per accident.

The penalties for driving a vehicle without Kentucky car insurance can be rather severe. For a first offense you are cited to go to court and can be fined between $500 to $1000 or be imprisoned for not more than 90 days or both.

Your KY motor vehicle registration and license plates can be suspended for one year or until proof of motor vehicle insurance is provided as well for the registered owner of an uninsured vehicle. License suspension for up to a year is also a possible penalty. The penalties increase for each subsequent violation of not having proper proof of auto insurance.

While you are not the owner of the car in which you were driving, Kentucky laws still hold you responsible as a driver to make sure the car you are operating is insured and make sure that there is proof of that insurance to show to law enforcement upon request.

Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS) KRS 304.39-080 is titled Security covering motor vehicles and in Paragraph 5 notes in part that every owner of a motor vehicle registered in this Commonwealth or operated in this Commonwealth by him or with his permission shall continuously provide with respect to the motor vehicle while it is either present or registered in this Commonwealth, and any other person may provide with respect to any motor vehicle, by a contract of insurance or by qualifying as a self-insurer, security for the payment of basic reparation benefits in accordance with this subtitle and security for payment of tort liabilities, arising from maintenance or use of the motor vehicle.

The owner of a motor vehicle who fails to maintain security on a motor vehicle in accordance with this subsection shall have his or her motor vehicle registration revoked and shall be subject to the penalties An owner who permits another person to operate a motor vehicle without security on the motor vehicle as required by this subtitle shall be subject to the penalties in KRS 304.99-060.

So that shows that a registered owner of a car in KY should have insurance on it and should be penalized for driving or permitting another to driver their uninsured car.

KRS 304.99-060 next gives the penalties for driving without insurance here it states:

(1) (a) The owner of any vehicle who fails to have in full force and effect the security required by Subtitle 39 of this chapter shall:

1. Be fined not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or sentenced to not more than ninety (90) days in jail, or both;

2. Have the registration of the motor vehicle revoked and the license plates of the vehicle suspended for a period of one (1) year or until such time as proof, in a form satisfactory to the commissioner, is furnished that the security is then and will remain in effect; and

3. For the second and each subsequent offense within any five (5) year period, have his operator's license revoked in accordance with KRS 186.560, and may be sentenced to one hundred and eighty (180) days in jail, or fined not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) nor more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), or both.

Paragraph 2 really speaks about your situation and here it states the penalties for:

(2) A person who operates a motor vehicle without security on the motor vehicle as required by Subtitle 39 of this chapter shall:

(a) Be fined not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or sentenced to not more than ninety (90) days in jail, or both; and

(b) For the second and each subsequent offense within any five (5) year period, have his operator's license revoked in accordance with KRS 186.560, and may be sentenced to not more than one hundred eighty (180) days in jail or fined not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) nor more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), or both.

Paragraph 3 then goes on to say that if the person who operates a motor vehicle without security on the motor vehicle as required by Subtitle 39 of this chapter is also the owner of the motor vehicle, the person shall be subject to penalties under both subsection (1) and subsection (2) of this section.

So the owner of the car should be penalized by the state for allowing their vehicle to be driven while uninsured however it is your responsibility to make sure any car you operate has the proper insurance on it and know where the proof of insurance is to show. If you were in an accident in an uninsured vehicle you as well as the car owner could be held personally responsible as well. You can be ticketed by most all states for driving a vehicle which you cannot prove has insurance on it since you are breaking the law by driving the uninsured car on the roadways.

If you want to know more specifics about the laws of KY then you can contact legal counsel. A lawyer may also be able to advise you if there is any way to get your tickets transferred to the car owner if you had asked about insurance and were assured the vehicle was insured and thus were unaware that you were driving without insurance.